I greet you with Peace and Love as you celebrate the Eid-el–Fitr, the festival commemorating the end of the Holy month of Ramadan.

We thank God for giving you this special privilege to witness this year’s celebration and to successfully come to the end of the Ramadan fast. May Allah accept your prayers and fasting for our country Nigeria and receive all your intentions. Amen.

The yearly celebration of the Ramadan fast is a time when you engage in common practices of prayer, fasting and charity, which is always expressed in the meal you share with one another. The sharing of meal is a constant practice at every Ramadan and this was well noted this year as many persons were reached out to daily in the evenings at the end of each day fasting. Both Muslims and Christians took out time alike to take part in this charity that the Almighty approves – to feed the hungry and give water to the thirsty (cf. Quran 76: 8-9; Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol. 7, Hadith 552; Matthew 25:31-40).

As you come to the end of the Ramadan fast, we must not forget that during this time of pandemic, we need to turn to one another in care and compassion. Our charity must not end with the fast but must go beyond it. Many persons in our neighborhood still go to bed hungry and have no plans for the next day. Our prayers too must continue, most especially for our country Nigeria that is plagued with lots of security, ethnic, religious, political and economic problems at this point in time. May God deliver our country from doom and damnation. Amen.

On behalf of the Bishop Emeritus, Most Rev. Albert Ayinde Fasina, Clergy, Consecrated Persons and Laity of the Catholic Diocese of Ijebu-Ode, I wish you our dear Muslim brothers and Sisters happy Eid-el-Fitr.

Eid Mubarak!

Most Rev. Francis Obafemi ADESINA

Bishop of Ijebu-Ode